Ryoga's Wife
by Shark8
Summary: A story on the tragic hero of the Ranma ½ series with a selfcontained 500 word shortstory intro. The only suspense is in the intro so far, the rest is probably going to be ooey, gooey, mushy stuff that I can’ believe I’ll be writing. Oh well.
1. Ryoga's Wife 500 words

Ryoga woke up when the body next to him shifted position, rolling onto his side and putting his arm around her, he looked over his wife, studying her face, her long hair, and her attractively curved shape. When he noticed where his hand was Ryoga was amazed that his earlier propensity for blushing and nose-bleeds was completely absent... well it would make living the married life hard, and it had for the first few days after the marriage. Ryoga blushed when he remembered how it seemed like she was trying to make him get a nosebleed. He knew that wasn't quite the case, but the good-natured ribbing she'd given him seemed to reinforce the impression. Sighing, Ryoga closed his eyes and lost himself in thought as he tried to go back to sleep... he didn't get much last night, but the little he did get was the best and most refreshing that he could remember. 

After a few minutes Ryoga's eyes flew open, it was useless to try to go back to sleep now that he was awake. As usual he was awake before she was, but as he looked over at her sleeping form he wished that he could sleep as soundly as she. He sighed as he got out of bed, careful not to disturb his wife, although she murmured as he removed his hand, she probably wouldn't get up for another half-hour.

Careful not to wake her as he got out of the bed, Ryoga grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the showers. Pausing only slightly to note a sign beside the door. The sign indicated certain colors as corresponding to certain rooms in the house. 'Green... Green goes to the bathroom.'

Looking down he found several lines painted on the floor, interrupted at even distances with small triangles indicating the direction of travel, he followed the green one and made his way to the bathroom. Ryoga set his clothes down, turned on the shower, and retrieved his towel as the water heated up.

Ryoga heard the door to the bathroom open and his wife joined him in the shower. For a few minutes Ryoga just looked at her. 'She's really quite beautiful...' Ryoga thought as she offered to scrub his back. "Yeah..." Ryoga simply replied as he turned around, accepting the offer. Ryoga sighed pleasurably while she scrubbed his back, banishing itches and dirt alike.

"Ryoga, I love you." His wife said softly as she hugged him, pressing her buxom breasts to his back.

Ryoga paused for a moment before answering, a year ago he would have never believed he was hearing these words from this person, sometimes he'd thought that he never would hear them from anyone. A year ago he would never have even remotely thought that he was going to be saying those words, even with their different meaning, to this person. Ryoga replied softly as he looked down at the small, feminine hands encircling his chest, "I love you, too... Ranma."

  


* * *

After reading Lari's _Changes_ (http://alatri.home.att.net/ranma/changes.html)

and the first chapter ofRyo-Wolf's _Lost Manhood, Lost Memory_ (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=909605)

I knew I had to do a female-Ranma (a.k.a. Ranko)/Ryoga story, and here it is. I may or may not continue this story. As it is it's a nice little 500 word story, don't you think?

Comments & Criticisms are welcome.

efish@cs.nmsu.edu


	2. Curing curses?

Chapter 1: Curing curses?

Running Bird sighed contentedly as he sat down to watch the sunset. The day had seemed to drag by, even though he'd been called several times today. Now it was time to relax and put away the stresses that had been recently thrust into his lap with his appointment as the tribe's spirit guide.

The appointment had shocked the tribal leaders less than it had himself. For one he wasn't very traditional, and he wasn't one that considered race to be that important of a characteristic, he had the view that's one's body was the physical clothes that their spirit wore, and never missed the opportunity to show it. He constantly dismayed the elders by referring to himself as "Indian" instead of the politically correct "Native American", heck, he didn't even put "American" in front of it to distinguish it. It wasn't his fault Columbus had gotten himself lost and named, or rather misnamed, the native inhabitants

"Um, excuse me." a young male voice sounded next to Running Bird, startling him. "I'm a bit lost… do you know where Nermia is?" The boy asked in polite, but oddly accented, English. He looked to be about five-eight or nine, dark brown hair, almost but not quite black, that was held out of his eyes by a bandanna with a rather nifty black and yellow pattern.

"Nermia?" Running Bird asked, then shook his head, "I've never heard of it."

"Oh." was all the boy said as he sighed, then started te walk away with a mumbled "Thank you."

"Wait." Running Bird smiled as the boy turned to look at his outstretched hand. "The name's Running Bird, and you are…"

"Hibiki, Ryoga Hibiki." He said as he shook the hand.

"Ah, well, Mr. Hibiki, it's getting kind of late for traveling, so why don't you stay at my place for the night."

"Uh, no. thank you, though." Ryoga said. 'Although it would be nice not to sleep in a sleeping bag tonight.'

"Mr. Hibiki, I insist. You look like you've been walking all day." It was true enough, he still had mud from somewhere in south america on his pants, and there was that incident in Pakistan with a pint of vodka… Ryoga shuddered as he remembered almost being lit on fire by the molotov cocktail.

"Th-thank you sir." Ryoga said, accepting the offer. He could try to find Nermia tomorrow, or the day after.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Feh!" The boy said with an almost contemptuous look. The thee armored men before him would pose no problem, he thought as he brought the jug of water up over his head and allowed the contents to drain onto his body triggering the Jusenkyo curse.

"A-A demon!" one of the men cried in terror and dropped his weapon, something that looked like a cross between a sword and a spear, although that wasn't an apt description for how the branched blade looked.

Quite right, A demon. He was extraordinarily powerful thanks to his 'curse'. He'd never thought of it as a curse, he'd had it since the time he was born. Cold water changed him into a winged ox-like creature with eel heads for tails. He would have thanked the old man for that, except the name he'd been given was more of a curse… it was unbearable. Pantyhose Taro, _Pantyhose_, how does someone live with the name _Pantyhose_?

But that could soon change, the item inside could well force that old man to change his name to… well, almost anything else would be acceptable, even Sue, like in that American country and western song.

"It doesn't mater! We're to defend it to the death!" One of the men yelled to the others, evidently he was the bravest among them. Or the stupidest, the two seemed to be companion traits often enough.

The fight was intense, if not particularly long, Pantyhose was surprised that he'd been cut as bad as he had been. Surprisingly enough that wound had come from the soldier that had dropped his weapon, he'd found his nerve again and Pantyhose couldn't help but be impressed with that. He prayed that the man's valor would be rewarded in the afterlife. He hadn't particularly wanted to kill them, but it was the only way he could get the item… _Destiny's Staff_.

It was smaller than he'd thought it would be, 'apparently destiny was a short fellow.' Pantyhose thought as he scrutinized the magical object. It was about as long as the distance from the tip of his outstretched hand to his elbow, maybe an inch longer, but no more. It had what appeared to be a handle of about a third of it's length, the rest of the rod was about as big around as his pinky and worked with an intricate design of inset gold wire.

Yes, _Destiny_ would be changed as soon as he could change it, Pantyhose smiled at the thought of using the Staff against Happosai, the withered old man that had cursed him by naming him after women's garments.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ranma was steamed at his dad for eating the last pickle, this was the last straw, or rather the last pickle. He immediately jumped up and began attacking Genma Saotome, who was still trying to get to the other three pickles on Ranma's plate.

"Could you take it outside please?" Soun unemotionally asked the combatants before they destroyed the livingroom, yet again.

After slowly making their way out into the back yard, all while throwing punches and blocking kicks, the fighters soon forgot about the food and began trying not to lose as they wrapped themselves up in their fight closing out the world around them while the rest of the world closed them out.

"So, how's school? Akane, Nabiki?" Soun asked, trying to start up a diner conversation.

"Oh, fine, I guess…" Akane said in that unconversational tone that only teenagers seem have.

"I made out like a bandit!" Nabiki exclaimed, drawing stares from everyone until she added a dry "What? I did." as she held up several pictures she still had left over. "You wouldn't belive how popular these last photos were."

It was then that Happosai walked by saying "No, I don't wanna!" to the youth who was following him.

"Please! Something, anything else!" Pantyhose Taro pleaded to no effect.

"NO! I like it!" Happosai said as he leapt out the back door and into the yard outside.

Nabiki watched as Pantyhose Taro removed a wood and gold-wired rod from his sleeve, pointed it at the small martial artist, and yelled "I wish your worst fear would become reality until you change my name!!" The rod shot out a purple beam of light that nearly hit Happosai. Instead of hitting Happosai it hit Ranma who was currently pulling herself out of the water.

"What was that!?" Genma, surprisingly, was the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds.

"This is a magical artifact I found before I came here…" Pantyhose said, rather irritated, "It's supposed to grant the user one wish."

When everybody heard that there was a mad rush to try to snatch the rod. Nabiki saw countless bags of riches as she pushed Kasumi out of her way. Kasumi was envisioning a perpetually clean house when she was pushed into her father. Her father was seeing Ranma and Akane at a wedding, while he snatched it out of Akane's hands. Akane, who'd been about to wish for her father to stay out of her life was suddenly pushed out of the way by Ranma, who was singing in his head his little 'never gonna be a girl again' song, while his father was imagining another bowl of pickles. The two grabbed at the rod at the same time.

"Give it here pops!" Ranma yelled tugging on the rod.

"Never boy, you'll just waste it foolishly!" Genma replied, thinking of an always full bottle of sake.

"Ranma, you IDIOT!" Akane shouted, reading her mallet for paying him back about a thousandfold for pushing her.

Akane's mistake was alerting Ranma of her attention. Ranma jumped up and out of the way, but without letting go of the rod he sailed in graceful arc and was about to come plunging a good kick to his father's face. When Akane's hit missed she over extended and was pulled into Ranma and Genma just as Ranma was about to come crashing down, sending all three into the koi pond.

When they emerged a panda triumphantly held the snapped and mangled remains of the once magical item. "Growl!" Everyone looked at the mangled remains in the panda's paw for a moment before Soun sighed and said "It was worth a shot anyway."

* * * * * * * * * *

Pantyhose had let them have the rod, it wasn't like he could use it again. 'Damn! I was so close, too!' the boy thought as he looked up into the stars from his seat on the dojo roof. 'I wonder what happened to Ranma when the magic hit him though…'

His thoughts were interrupted by a feminine scream. 'I guess we know.' He sighed and tried to think of another way to force the old guy to change his name.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ranma stared down his body in the bath water in horror and screamed. 'Calm down, it's not like this hasn't happened before…' Ranma said to herself trying not to hyperventilate. 'Dr Tofu! He'll know!'

Ranma exited the bath toweling off and putting her clothes on quickly as she could. Bursting out of the bathroom she ran down the hall to the phone only to stop in her tracks ready to burst into tears. 'That's right, Dr. Tofu's away on a trip to some convention.'

'But he's coming back tomorrow!' Ranma almost jumped happily.

"Gya! What's happened to me? Why am I so emotional? This is really weird.' Ranma wondered as she made her way to her room. Literally jumping into bed as she thought, 'the sooner I'm asleep, the sooner it's tomorrow.'

* * * * * * * * * *

"What's this shrine or whatever is that over here?" Ryoga asked Running Bird, pointing to an old map on the wall. Ryoga didn't know the written language, but he knew enough cultures and other languages that he was fairly sure that this indicated some sort of religious structure and something about a curse, or perhaps that was a curse's cure..

Running bird looked where Ryoga was pointing, that wasn't a good spot at all it legends were to be believed. According to legends there was a great magic that their tribe had been entrusted with, the power to remove curses, but when some of the tribesman stole it and undid curses that the rest of the tribe had felt should have been kept. It had almost driven the tribe to war against itself, and for that reason they decided to enshrine the object deep in a cave. A lot of work for a pot that was supposed to wash curses away. Guardians were placed just in the shrine and just outside the shrine and then the whole cave was sealed and warnings painted on the wall.

"That's what the old legends say." Running Bird replied. "I don't know how true they are though." I hope they aren't, those guardians made me wake up in a cold sweat for a week, but I was only six then. "There's cauldron or pot that was said to wash away curses."

"What about this magical pot thing for removing curses?" Ryoga excitedly asked.

Running Bird laughed aloud at the boy's enthusiastic questions. "The way you're asking I'd tink you were under a curse."

Ryoga sat there silently for a moment, not saying anything.

"Oh, no. Don't tell me you've been cursed…" Running Bird said, noticing the lack of expression on Ryoga's face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed." Running Bird apologized then began telling him everything he'd heard of the old stories he'd never put too much into because of how they'd scared the pants off him when he was little.

(Continued)

* * *

Author's Note: Um… not too much to say, I hope you like it. I thought having an American Indian relic being the cure to a Chinese curse would be interesting, I mean they're on 'opposite' continents.


	3. Stone Takes Rook

Chapter 2: Stone Takes Rook.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!!" The cry rang out of the desert landscape as the single finger struck the rock wall that Running Bird had indicated. The cliff face exploded sending chunks and shards of rock flying in every direction.

Ryoga stepped through the six-foot hole and into the eerie, silent cold. The involuntary shiver seemed to be demanded by the spirits that Running Bird said were guarding the place. Ryoga started forward with his flashlight at the ready, illuminating the path before him but before he went very far he turned around and stuck his head out into the glaring desert sun and looked around until he saw the medicine man.

"Are you coming?" Ryoga asked, hoping that he would for two reasons, one it would lighten up the atmosphere, and two, Running Bird could keep him from getting too lost. Although the hole he was sticking his head through was supposed to be the only entrance and exit he might not be able to find it for a couple of days after he found that pot.

Running Bird looked up in a semi-startled fashion and laughed a nervous laugh. "No, I'd rather not. Besides somebody's got to stay out here and keep an eye on things." That and he could get into a lot of trouble from the elders if they found out he'd let a foreigner waltz right into the shrine, much less _helped_ him to do so.

"Oh, ok." Ryoga said, a little disappointed but accepting what Running Bird said before turning back into the cave and promptly getting lost in the dark and empty confine, even though it was a featureless hollow with a single stone doorframe embedded in the wall at the opposite end.

Walking through the large doorframe ryoga found a hall-like passage extending back and turning left when it reached the end. The entire hall had the look of having been carved from the stone by hand, the floors and walls were only slightly uneven while the high ceiling was rough and looked almost as if chunks of it could fall out at any moment. Ryoga noted this and made a note not to use the Bakusai Tenketsu on the interior here, he didn't want to risk accidentally destroying his cure.

As Ryoga neared the end of the hallway he noticed that at the end of the hallway there was an alcove of a humanoid wolf creature that reminded him of how the ancient Egyptians depicted their gods, human body with an animal head but that wasn't quite an accurate description of this statue. It seemed to be more like some pictures of anime cat-girls but with some ancient warrior and a fierce wolf instead of a cat and a girl, it's ominous silence was accented by what it was wearing, armor and held a stone spear or pike in the braced forward-guard position.

Ryoga was startled when a piece of the roof suddenly clattered after falling to the ground in front of him. Why did places with some sort of magic or treasure always have to be so creepy, confusing, or dangerous?

Ryoga let out a sigh after halting for a moment, maybe watching Indiana Jones before coming out here was a bad idea, he was jumping at nothing now and would there really be anything in here traps or otherwise?

Just then there was a cracking sound and the statue, which towered over Ryoga standing ten feet tall, lurched to life. It said something that Ryoga couldn't make out, native american probably, and took up a position blocking Ryoga from taking the left turn at the end of the hallway.

Ryoga almost laughed, this was one of the Guardians here? A golem? This was going to be easy with his Breaking Point maneuver, the Bakusai Tenketsu, Ryoga thought as he extended his index finger and rushed forward yelling "Bakusai Tenketsu!"

Ryoga's eyes flew open as the crack reached his ears followed shortly by a wave of pain that caused tears to well up in his eyes and a sudden, barbaric, inhuman scream of pain leapt from his mouth.

Running Bird's head snapped up when he heard the unearthly scream bursting from the hole in the cliff face. '… and I was just getting to sleep too…' he thought as he pushed his hat back up and began to make his way cautiously to the cave's entrance.

He arrived just in time to jump back when Ryoga burst out of the hole grabbing one hand with the other and hopping about in obvious pain.

"What happened?" Was all that he could ask.

"My finger!" Ryoga screamed, "I think I broke my finger!"

Running Bird looked at Ryoga's finger and then at the hole he'd made with it in the cliff wall earlier… what on earth could break this guy's finger was beyond him.

"Well, there's nothing that I can see… Ranma you appear to be a perfectly healthy young woman." Dr. Tofu said as he wheeled on his stool over to the waiting members of the Tendo household.

"But I'm a guy!!" Ranma wailed on the verge of breaking down in tears, she stopped just on that verge lip quivering as the tears threatened to burst.

"Ranma's ki lines have changed, they're exactly what you'd see in any normal female…" Dr. Tofu continued, trying to explain what he saw but failing because it baffled him. One couldn't simply change ki lines, even Mousse when he was in his duck form still had human male ki lines, distorted to fit the form of a duck, but human and male nonetheless… this was quite puzzling.

"Could it be that magic rod?" Akane asked.

"What? What's this about a magic rod?" Tofu asked.

Akane related the story of Pantyhose Taro's magic rod and how the magic had hit Ranma instead of Happosai.

"Hmmmm, I see." Dr. Tofu rubbed his chin for a moment then laughed. "I think Ranma'll need a new wardrobe, after all it wouldn't do for a young girl to go around dressed like a boy!"

Akane, Ranma, Genma, and Soun all looked at the doctor with their jaws dropped at the doctors sudden and implicit announcement that Ranma was a real, live girl… permanently. Nabiki however was trying to work it all into a scheme… there had to be some room for profit here, she just needed to find it.

"Ranma!" Soun excitedly yelled, "Son, you've got to find a cure or else you'll have to marry Soun to uphold our family honor!"

"Or you could marry Nabiki!" Ranma shot back, derailing Nabiki's train of thought and sending shivers up Genma's spine. Ranma couldn't help smiling a little. _Bluff called_.

A month later Ryoga made his way out of the cursed forest into what looked like a park. As he scanned around he thought it looked familiar. There were several children playing with water toys that he made a mental note to stay away from along with their parents, there were also a few couples walking along. Over there was one interesting couple, a guy in long white robes trying to give flowers to a long haired girl riding a bike who was ignoring him but Ryoga didn't have the time or inclination to watch people. He was on a mission, as much as he hated it he needed some help to get his cure, and who better to help than Ranma? Now, if only he could find Nermia he could find the Tendo dojo.

Ryoga looked around the park again, it looked hauntingly familiar for some reason… but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, the signs saying to stay off the grass written in Japanese were common enough to not give him a very big clue as to where he was. 'Could this be England?' Ryoga thought, completely missing the subtle hint of the signs, he didn't know where he was, so he did what he always did.

"WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I NOW?" Ryoga bellowed, drawing the attention of everyone in the park except for a small red-headed girl who was running in terror as she flailed her arms trying to hit the cat that was hanging on to the back of her red shirt and being followed closely by an obviously angry duck.

Ryoga slumped forward and sighed, he'd never find the Tendo dojo at this rate. It had taken him months to get this far, he'd been to New Zealand, India, Peru, Alaska, the Caribbean, Washington D. C., Beijing, countless forests, deserts, swamps, grasslands, and now wherever he was. He felt the depression come in a wave as he thought that none of those places had even been _in_ Japan. He was never going to get there and he was never going to be cured of the pig-curse…

Ryoga looked back at the forest he'd just emerged from, nobody was in there and he needed to get rid of his depression, so he prepared to fling a weighted ball of depressive ki energy into it with a shout of "Shishi Hohodan!!" when he suddenly changed his mind, a little.

Even running in sheer terror from Shampoo's cursed cat form it is quite difficult _not_ to notice a blinding white pillar of ki appear and come crashing down with explosive force. Not that the sudden illumination or the resulting shockwave of Ryoga's shishi hokodan actually stopped her from running around flailing like a madman… er, woman. It simply registered in her mind that Ryoga was around somewhere.

Shampoo and Mousse likewise were not dissuaded from their current course of action, the Lost Boy wouldn't have any effect on their proving that Ranma was in fact not truly a girl. 'Stupid Mousse, he try keep hot water away from Ranma!' was the only thing on the Amazon's mind other than her latest plot to reveal that Ranma truly being a girl was a ruse. 'Shampoo no stupid, Ranma try before!'

Feeling much better, and coincidently standing at the bottom of a six-foot deep crater, Ryoga Hibiki, leapt out and almost immediately caught sight of a redheaded girl being harassed by some decidedly seedy-looking stray animals, a duck and a cat to be precise. 'That's odd…' was all Ryoga thought before he turned away to try to find Nermia.

He made it three paces before he sighed and wheeled about, only to find the girl had disappeared. 'Oh well… I was hoping that if I'd helped her she could help me get to the Tendo dojo.'

As he turned he saw the red-head and animals making a circuit around the parameter of a lake that stood in the park. As the redhead rounded the bend and started to come towards him he had the strangest feeling of deja vu, almost like he should know her. Maybe he'd met her on one of his travels… Ryoga almost lost himself in thought and snapped back into reality just in time to rush to the girl's aid.

Shampoo resisted Ryoga's effort to separate her from Ranma while Mousse knew that he was no match for him in his duck form and backed off, slightly. Then Shampoo tried to claw at Ryoga, though she had little success in freeing herself until she bit him, and she bit him _hard_.

"Ow!" Ryoga said with a jerk of his hand and the release of the cat… unfortunately for Shampoo the short jerk was enough to send her flying through the air eventually to land in Furinkan High's swimming pool.

"Are you ok miss?" Ryoga asked as he smiled a toothy smile that displayed his fangs quite well and would have intimidated anyone who didn't know him.

"Oh, thank you mister!" Ranma said in that sickeningly sweet voice she used when she wanted to appear extra-cute in order to get an extra scoop of ice cream. 'Boy, I hope Ryoga doesn't recognize me!'

"Oh, well then… miss, could you tell me to get to the Tendo dojo?" Ryoga asked, evidently clueless as to who he was talking to, as he fiddled with his hands in what was either nervousness or embarrassment.

"Sure thing!" Ranma said with evidently false enthusiasm, which Ryoga failed to note _was_ false, "It's just two blocks that way!" Ranma said and pointed in the opposite direction.

"Thank you miss." Ryoga said, already turning and walking in that direction.

'Whew! I don't know how many more people I can handle…' Ranma thought as she began a leisurely pace back towards the dojo. 'It's bad enough trying to adjust to being stuck as a girl forever… or at least until I can figure a way to get back to Jusenkyo, and it's even worse with those two, I don't think I could handle Ryoga trying to kill me too.'

Ranma opened the front door to the dojo with some gusto and a yell of "I'm home!" Until she saw Ryoga sitting at the table along with Akane, Kasumi, Soun, and Genma all of whom were listening in rapt attention as Ryoga finished telling the story. "… what's going on…" Ranma trailed off as her father burst into action.

"So, what happened?!" Genma loudly demanded as he lifted Ryoga off the floor by his shirt. "Did you get it?"

"N-No!" Ryoga answered, shocked over Genma's outburst. "I couldn't get past the Guardians."

"But the Guardians were golems!" Soun protested!

"I know!! I know!!" Ryoga screamed in a near panic.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Ranma yelled in a forceful manner that caused every head in the room to snap and look at her.

"Ryoga here found a cure for curses my boy!!" Genma said with no small amount of enthusiasm.

"WHAT!?" Ranma yelled, eyes popped out of their sockets trying to watch Ranma zoom over to Ryoga and demand to hear the whole story.

"Well, I… hey! You were that girl in the park!" Ryoga exclaimed.

'Whoopse!' Ranma thought, afraid that Ryoga wouldn't tell her anything for pointing him in the wrong direction just out of spite. Though what he did surprised Ranma and actually made her feel a little bad about tryong to get him lost… in more ways than one.

"Well, thank you Ranma." Ryoga said in all honesty and then smiled as he said, "I made it here in record time thanks to you pointing the way for me."

Ranma had to fight to keep her mouth closed. It was just warped enough that it made sense… but Ryoga thanking somebody, Ranma especially, was… well, it was incredible. Something was up.

"In fact I have a favor to ask you Ranma." Ryoga continued, "I found something that we can use to cure our curses but I need some help getting it."

With that statement Ryoga launched his story in detail, incredible detail, even down to the types of beans that Running Bird had served the night before they went to find the magic pot. The only thing that saved Ranma from a coma was when Ryoga got to the Guardians, which appeared to be golems made of stone… and that's where Ryoga stopped.

"And?" Ranma prompted.

"And what?" Ryoga asked, genuine confusion showing on his face.

'I can't believe it! He got lost in his own story!!' Ranma thought loudly enough that Akane almost shot her a glance. "So why didn't you just use the Breaking Point?" Ranma asked in a particularly caustic and sarcastic manner.

"I tried." Ryoga said flatly, voice betraying absolutely no emotion. "It didn't work."

"What!? The breaking point _didn't_ work on golems?" Ranma asked incredulously.

"Nope." Ryoga responded softly in a manner that seemed to indicate great shame or embarrassment.

"So why didn't you use your Shishi Hokodan if the Breaking Point didn't work?" Ranma asked solemnly at point blank range.

Ryoga froze and didn't say anything in response, he simply twitched twice and then yelled "GYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

(Continued)

* * *

Author's Note: Here's chapter two, as you can see Ryoga's still cursed… and nursing a bit of a crushed ego at not being able to destroy a single golem. Which brings up the question: _why didn't the Bakusai Tenketsu work?_ The answer: _Sore wa himetsu desu_. 

There is a perfectly good reason there, Ryoga simply hasn't found it out yet.


	4. Stones to Break, Hearts to Mend

Ch 3: Stones to Break, Hearts to Mend

"Well boy!" Genma exclaimed, slapping Ranma on the back and pointing at Ryoga, who was currently stuttering as he tried to talk to Akane, "It looks like your chance at a cure is right there!"

"I know pop!" Ranma replied, trying to think of a way to get the location from Ryoga.

Genma leaned toward Ranma and whispered, "Good! Now you're going to go get that cure, right?"

Ranma shot up and nearly shouted "That's right!"

Genma shushed Ranma and pulled her down, continuing in a conspiratorial tone, "Now then, I have a couple of favors to call in."

"What?" Ranma eyed her pop, it wasn't like him to be so generous in doing something for her. 'What's he up to?' Ranma asked herself as she eyed her father suspiciously.

"You'll go to America, get cured and bring it back for me right, boy?" Genma asked.

"What?" Ranma growled at her father then lunged, grabbing both arms and ready to hurt him, "Why don't you…"

Ranma trailed off as she saw the wince of pain cross Genma's face.

"I sprained it." Genma said in reply to the unasked question, and heading off any concern, he started back on the business at hand, "Now… I'll see what I can do."

• • • • • • • • • •

That evening, after eating the food Kasumi had left out for him, Sasuke decided on a whim to see if there was anything being discussed inside that would interest master Kuno… it wouldn't do for him to keep bringing back reports that simply said "Nothing to report"; it made him look like he couldn't do his job as a ninja properly. And, among the few servants of house Kuno, not doing a job properly meant the loss of one's job and for a ninja the loss of honor would be unbearable.

It wasn't until he got to eavesdropping on the Tendo's guest room, where the Saotome men slept, that he actually heard something of interest.

"…told him that my son and his friend would need passage to America and he agreed to take you." Genma was saying with such a tone that Sasuke could almost see the smug smile on his face. "You'll leave tomorrow, just be at pier 14 before nine."

Well, that should be enough to interest master Kuno, Ranma Saotome going to america via ship for some unknown reason. Perhaps the master would reward him for the information!

Sasuke's face fell. Right, like that would ever happen.

• • • • • • • • • •

Ryoga twitched. Finally, after all this time he'd actually done something. Ranma hadn't known weather to try to see if something was wrong or if she should just leave him there to think.

"Where on Earth am I now?" Ryoga suddenly yelled, bursting the thought that she was just thinking, that he might actually know where he was and what he was doing.

"What?" Ranma dropped her pack and shot over to the Lost Boy, staring at him for a moment before continuing, "You're thinking of dragging me halfway around the world and you're lost before we even leave Japan!"

"We're in Japan?" Ryoga asked with a calm and innocent demeanor that shocked Ranma into shutting up. "I thought we would be in Alaska by now…" He trailed off and pulled out a map and began study it intently.

Ranma recovered from her shock and looked over at the Lost Boy, Mr. Drunken-hamsters-have-more-sense-of-direction-than-I-do himself, only to twitch herself as she read "Equador"on the map's side. "Alright! We're going to get there if I have to drag you there myself Ryoga!"

Ranma reached out and grabbed the spot where Ryoga's backpack and strap met on one side and began dragging him in the direction of the harbor. As she walked past her own pack she reached out and grabbed her own pack, swinging it onto her back in a well practiced move that would have left Ryoga blinking in surprise if she hadn't been pulling him along as she marched to the harbor.

• • • • • • • • • •

Tatewake Kuno was surprised to hear that Ranma Saotome would be leaving, to America, for some unknown reason, but he was totally uninterested other than that. If that fool Saotome wanted to go, let him! Then he wouldn't be around to stop him from being with Akane Tendo and the pigtailed-girl! Tatewake smiled at the thought of a Ranma-free life, even if it would be only a couple of months.

Then Sasuke told him of the 'friend' he would be taking with him… and he immediately thought of the pigtailed-girl, whom that fiend had somehow enslaved. Could it be that he was taking her to America for a forced wedding? Or maybe to be forced to work in an evil hive of scum and villainy, like Las Vegas or, he shuddered at the thought, El Paso?

Looking at the clock he saw that it was nearly eight-fifteen, not time to lose! He would havve to hurry to intercept them.

• • • • • • • • • •

The strange sight of the small redheaded girl dragging the tall, muscular Hibiki boy along elicited more than a few stares from people but, paying those stares no mind, she continued on to her goal, a smallish boat named _Soyokaze_. Ranma's father had used connections with the captain and obtained passage for the two.

"But the sea…" Ryoga whined, "I don't see why we have to go by boat."

Ryoga had been informed of the plan, of course, early in the morning before he had been fully awake and now Ranma was wishing that he'd hadn't been so sleepy. She stopped and whirled on the poor Lost Boy, jabbing a finger in his chest, "Look, it's the only thing my pop could afford! And we're going to be late!" Ranma's voice softened into an annoyed growl, "We need to get on that boat now."

Ryoga was surprised by Ranma's sudden mood-swing, mostly because he didn't pay any attention to the redhead's body-language, but still it caught him by surprise and he took a step back saying, "Hey don't…WHOA!"

The last part of the sentence due to his stepping off the edge of the wharf and into the harbor. The situation was one he was rather used to, despite (or perhaps because of) his Jusenkyo curse. Yet, despite it being a relatively familiar situation, would still put Ryoga in a bad mood… if he hadn't knocked himself out on the way down, that is.

Ranma on the other hand, watched as he seemed to tumble backwards in slow motion, was able to do nothing to keep the other martial artist from taking the plunge.

"Aw crap…" Ranma grumbled, as she dove in after the now pig, thinking of being even later to that ship.

It didn't take more than a minute to retrieve the small black piglet, and as she was climbing up she saw a hand offered to help her back onto the docks, as she grabbed the hand she heard the only words that were guaranteed to make her day more _interesting_, in the Chinese sense of the word. "My pigtailed goddess!"

Now that Ranma found herself 'saved' by Kuno, and subsequently pulled into one of his long-winded, poetic, and irritating speeches, she had the overwhelming desire to punt him into the stratosphere, but she was late for her boat… "Look Kuno, I appreciate the help but I've got to get on that boat." Ranma interrupted and nodded to the _Soyokaze_.

"Then I, Tatewake Kuno, shall escort you to yon vessel!" Kuno jumped at the opportunity to escort his pig-tailed goddess wherever she wanted, completely forgetting that he'd previously thought that Ranma Saotome was going to befoul her pureness once she was aboard the vessel, and thrusting his arm around hers as he dragged her toward the _Soyokaze_.

"You know, if you wanted to sail the sea with me, you had but to ask."Kuno said, ignorant of Ranma's struggle to free herself, Kuno then lost himself in his own thoughts, thoughts which are best left as an exercise to the reader.

• • • • • • • • • •

The captain, one Justy Tylor, welcomed the two aboard. The tall one with the unruly brown hair and bokken must be Ranma, his friend Genma's son, which meant that the small, curvy redhead must be the 'friend' Genma had told him about… he honestly wasn't expecting that, so he did what he always did in cases of the unexpected, mentally shrugged and let events take their own course, 'winging it' and playing by ear.

"You must be Ranma," Justy said with a big smile, shaking Kuno's hand. "Your father didn't tell me that your 'friend' was going to be such a good looking girl!" Justy said with a wink and a nudge.

Kuno felt the rush of vindication at hearing the captain's words, not that he expected anything else. It still felt good to be right though! But wait! He had been referred to that swine, that cad, that dark-hearted Ranma Saotome!

"If you two haven't tied the knot… I could do it while we're in transit." Justy offered, interrupting Kuno just before he was about to scream his indignation at being mistaken for Ranma Saotome.

Kuno dropped all his indignation with that offer, he could marry his pigtailed-goddess! What luck! No, wait, this had to be a dream! Only one way to find out…

Kuno put his head through the wall of the captain's cabin.

"I guess that's a no… " Justy mumbled at the twitching form embedded in his wall.

• • • • • • • • • •

Ranma groaned as she walked down the corridor to her cabin. What on earth had led up to Kuno, _Kuno_ of all people, coming on this trip with her? It made little sense, even less than was normal for her life.

Looking up Ranma saw she was at her cabin, opened the door and tossed her luggage, and Ryoga on the floor beside her small bed as she pulled herself up to rest a bit. As she stared at the ceiling and thought about her current situation she drifted off into sleep and strange dreams.

She dreamed of being a knight, her old male form, trying to save a princess, only when he got to the tower in which the princess was supposedly kept hostage, all he found was a mirror that reflected himself back as his cursed form.

Ranma found his dream-self looking into the mirror, then being pulled into the feminine reflection and becoming the girl… and when she turned around Kuno was there, saying he would free her from her glassy prison… so that Ranma might date with him!

• • • • • • • • • •

Ranma woke with a scream, not hers, but Ryoga's scream of "Ranma! How dare you!" as he flew toward her mid-air and mid-attack. Ranma leapt out of the bed just in time to avoid a flying kick from Ryoga.

"Ryoga!" Ranma screamed, trying to get his attention as she dodged a punch, well his attention on speaking and not fighting.

"Ranma! You were trying to kill me!" Ryoga growled as he threw several more punches, "Now die!"

Wha?" Was all Ranma could say before she had to devote her full attention to blocking and dodging.

"Suffocation!" Ryoga yelled, still pressing his assault, "I didn't think you'd stoop that low!"

"What are you talking about, blockhead?" Ranma countered, mounting her own counter attack and forcing Ryoga to block and retreat a little. "I did no such thing!"

"Of course you did," Ryoga retorted, launching a counter-counter-offensive, "Stuffing a poor unconscious pig under all your luggage!"

"Wah?"Ranma paused, recovering just in time to deflect a punch that would have knocked the wind out of her had it connected.

"I don't even know how you could manage to bring two backpacks of stuff!" Ryoga yelled, throwing more punches and a few kicks in for good variety.

"One of them's your backpack." Ranma said dryly, blocking the punched and dancing around the kicks.

Ryoga stopped his assault mid-punch and said, "Oh."

That was when several members of the crew, the Captain, and Kuno burst into the room.

* * *

(Continued)

Author's Note: Well, here it is, the next chapter. I finally got around to writing it, yay!

Anyway, there's more to come in the next chapter. What's going to happen now that Kuno's aboard, mistaken as Ranma. What about Ryoga, caught assaulting a girl in her room? What about getting to America and finding that cure?


End file.
